The present application is directed to thermoelectric coolers and, more particularly, to thermoelectric coolers with at least two different temperature zones.
Thermoelectric coolers are solid state devices used to heat and cool items in a variety of industries, such as telecommunications and micro electronics. Thermoelectric coolers generally include first and second plates connected together by intermediate members. The thermoelectric coolers are configured to produce a temperature differential between the first and second plates with one of the plates being “hot” and the other plate being “cold”. Current thermoelectric coolers are not configured for a single plate to provide multiple different temperature zones.
In some applications, it is desirable for a thermoelectric cooler to be able to produce multiple temperature zones. Multiple temperature zones may minimize power consumption because only limited sections of a plate are heated or cooled to specific temperatures and not the entire plate. Multiple temperature zones may also provide accurate temperature control to separate components that are served by a single plate.
Currently, multiple temperature zones require the use of multiple individual thermoelectric coolers. However, the use of multiple thermoelectric coolers may be difficult because of the lack of physical space available for positioning the additional thermoelectric coolers. Assembling multiple thermoelectric coolers may also be more expensive and time consuming. Also, it is difficult to maintain critical alignment across multiple thermoelectric coolers due to thermally induced expansions and distortions. Critical alignment is often a common requirement when using a thermoelectric cooler with optical components.